The Great Debate and Other Fun Stuff

We spent some quality time with family and friends celebrating Penelope’s first birthday party which was a ton of fun!

Apparently this is a look I make when I’m having a blast. I never knew because my eyes close every time I scrunch up my nose to cackle.

I made the cakes myself so that I wouldn’t feel bad about throwing away the leftovers. I’ll spare you another sugar in the trash shot and entertain you with unadulterated cuteness instead…

When family comes to town we usually eat like crap so I’ve been trying my best not to over do it. During this time I’ve been having a little internal debate with myself.

The greatest debate I’ve been having recently is whether or not I should count calories. Kelly, my hottie body guru, has always told me not to and my husband concurs. I’ve been doing some research and talking with different people and I’m totally confused on the matter.

There is a new school of thought that claims that some people aren’t losing weight or reaching their fitness goals because they aren’t consuming enough calories… weird right?

I’m used to the older way of thinking that promotes calories in vs calories out. It’s such a simplistic way of thinking. It works because the number of the scale drops but if you don’t eat the right foods you will sacrifice hard-earned muscle which ultimately keeps your metabolism revved up. So in the long run you weigh less on the scale but along with some of the fat you lost you tend to lose muscle mass along with it and you’re still left with the fluff you were trying to get rid of in the first place.

This has happened to me in the past. I would look at super fit chicks and wonder why I couldn’t see my muscle definition like you could see their’s. Was I just doomed to be fluffy?

This has caused quite the dilemma in my head. I don’t want to be fluffy but I don’t want to waste time by not counting calories and not getting to where I want to go.

You would think that I would listen to Kelly because she’s super fit. At the same time it’s easy for someone who doesn’t need to lose weight to say that. They have nothing to lose if they stay the same way. I however, feel like it’s time wasted.

It doesn’t matter how many times I’m told to stop counting I can’t help myself. I feel blind without it.

I’ve been trying really hard to lose weight and it is slithering off so slowly. Now I’m wondering if it is time for me to take a leap of faith.

During Penelope’s birthday party I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had decided to just give this no counting calorie thing a shot. But then I caught some video of myself and you could see my overhanging belly in plain site. I thought I had it well covered. The first thought in my head when I saw that was, “Holy crap! I’m going to eat “x” many calories to try to get that overhanging piece of flesh to go away.”

Then after the party we were sitting at the dinner table with Brent’s parents. They have recently lost a significant amount of weight through counting calories and we had a little family debate on its effectiveness. Brent thinks it’s stupid and can lead to unhealthy habits, Brent’s parents have found that it works for them. I’m still mulling it over…

What is your stance?

In other news I ate out a lot during the weekend as predicted. I told you that I would share what I chose to eat while dining out so here it is.

Warning: I only took half of the photos because I got bored with taking pictures of my food.

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15 thoughts on “The Great Debate and Other Fun Stuff”

I am doing Weight Watchers so no calorie counting. You go more off of Fat,Protein,Fiber….that sort of thing. I started the diet in January and have lost 28 lbs. I did have a few cheat weeks hence not getting closer to 40 lbs. I was trying to do 10 lbs a month….but the temptation kicked in a little hard some weeks. I have had to make myself quit calorie counting since that is all I ever did before with diets. I find eating is so much better now without calorie counting. I still feel guilty sometimes when eating something that I feel is high in calories but when I calorie count I actually don’t end up getting enough calories to really lose weight….anyways….keep working hard. You look great!!!

I don’t think I could ever lose weight without counting calories and here’s why…let to my own devices I can eat….A LOT. This whole “intuitive eating” thing and just being sure you get the right balance of the right foods will also not work for me because intuitively I want what is bad for me (READ: sugar) and apparently gummy bears + cheese + cake is not actually the “right” combination of foods. Go figure.

I would think that as hard as you workout that you would not be in danger of losing muscle mass at all. I could see if someone was just doing the elliptical at zero resistance 30 minutes 3 xs per week…but you WORK it so I can’t imagine that happening to you.

For me, weight loss doesn’t work without calorie counting! I always overdo it if I don’t diligently track! I’d love to be able to lose weight without adding numbers and measuring portions, but it isn’t realistic for me right now.

In other news, Penelope is the cutest thing ever. And you are looking freakin’ HOT! Seriously, your hair is gorgeous, you look so happy, and your bod looks fab.

I’ve lost 24lbs since January counting calories, Hal has lost 40lbs. He did go overboard at first an basically starved himself, once he upped his calories and protein he started really dropping the weight. It’s the ONLY thing that has ever really worked for me. I look at it as a question of fuel. I should only put in the amount of fuel my body needs. Anything extra is going to be stored in a bad way. Sometimes I manage to keep that fuel premium, other times its low grade. Mostly I keep it mid-grade because I don’t want to waste my calories. I also enjoy the daily puzzle of working out how many calories I have and the best way to allo them throughout. The app I use monitors calorie, protein, sugar, sodium, whatever-you-want intake. It is much, much, much easier than it used to be to count calories intelligently, keeping your nutrients balanced, with today’s technology. Use it!

HA and this ladies and gentlemen is the friend I spent many an hour at The Market having inappropriate conversations with in between classes. Pardon her language she can’t help but say what’s on her mind… kinda why I love her 🙂

I do both count and not count. I tend to eat the same things but different days with exceptions of a meal out or special event sprinkled in here or there. I will log in food/calories to get an idea of what I”m taking in and it’s usually in the same range when I’m sticking to my typical healthy food choices. Counting calories long term makes me edgy and I start to feel overwhelmed or the pressure just gets to me. There’s a free spirit in me (or stubborn) that doens’t want to stick to “calorie plan”. I want to do my own thing, make my own decisions, so let me be! On that note, I’m cognizant of what I’m taking in and do make the effort to earn or burn the calories. If I’m going to indulge, it will motivate me to train hard or see how much effort I can put in the WOD so my body can make positive gains. I don’t always want to loose weight, gaining muscle is one the best experiences on my list.

Didn’t really answer your question. To count or not to count. I do both and to give each a fair chance and make sure my pants continue to fit.